Started a new project. I am attempting to put a 50 Dodge truck body on a 1998 Mazda B3000 frame. I am attempting to keep the dash in tact so there will be no re-wiring etc. This will be more of a rat rod look than a restored truck look. There is some areas that will need metal repair, but I will figure out how to match the "look" of the rest of the truck after I get the repairs done. First task is to get rid of the body of the Mazda.
Let's go with the easiest thing first. The bed. I am cutting the gas door out of the bed to use on the new body.
Time to cut up the bed and remove parts. I am planning on using the bed floor and welding the bed sides to it from the Dodge. "easy bolt on". and that is the plan behind this build. Do it the easiest way.
:cheers: Cool project!
Thank You!!! Off with the doors, the grill and the front fenders. I am getting to the point of No-Return. Yep, the wife is getting nervous about this one.
:hack: and we are cutting off the cab. Make a couple easy cuts to get rid of the majority. The plan here is to keep the dash intact, plus the floor of the Mazda.
Now I need to get rid of the windshield. That took a bit of work. First thought was to save the glass. Yea right. Second thought was to just get the stupid thing off the truck. Too much work just to give it away. so the work continued, and the windshield was removed!!!
(https://as1.ftcdn.net/jpg/01/16/17/04/500_F_116170482_KIICILyAm4wxEK1cxoY2uAlabuUqn7vy.jpg)
Next job was to cut the un-necessary metal from the cab. Getting rid of the dash and the floor/firewall area. I keep measuring to make sure that all of this is going to work, but it is a little too late now if it doesn't!!!
A buddy did about the same thing but he started with a Dodge Dakota and was mounting a 30 Dodge coupe on it
He left the firewall and cab floor and cut everything else off
When it came right down to it the dash in the Dakota was wider than the coupe and the steering wheel was right against the door so he had to move the column over a bit at the top of the dash
The steering wheel ended up with a bit of a tilt towards center of the car :eek2:
I was a bit worried about that also. The measurements I kept taking were saying that I was going to be good, but the fear was still there. The main thing about the placement of the cab was to make sure the front tires would be centered in the wheel wells. so that dictated where the cab would land.
Disassembling the front end. It had a little damage in the past. But being a rat rod, it will keep the look when it's done.
Now it is time to cut the pillars of the dash out so the cab can slide down.
The cab is ready, and hanging above the Mazda.
The cab is on!!! I drove it around the yard a bit. :cheers:
Next thing is to start lining up the bed. I am fitting the bed to the cab. The bed sides will be welded to the old bed floor.
Checking the wheel well placement!! :2thumbs:
And before long...... :smilielol: .............. we have a bed mounted on the truck. I still have to put the front pillars back on the bed near the cab, but it is coming along.
More looks at the bed. :icon_smile_big:
Now it is time to tackle the front. There are things that will have to move in order to put this together. Including the battery. It will have to find a new place to sit. Everything else seems to have room to cram in there. A bit of chopping metal out of the way, and the fenders were ready to piece in.
Now it's time for fender placement. Some fine tuning to come, but everything is starting to take place. I put the fenders in place, but did need to trim a bit more when the grill was put into place.
And the grill goes on. For this, I did need to cut the frame back i little. But it is coming along. :2thumbs:
I quit working yesterday with the mounting of the hood mount on the front. Today I hope to finish mounting the hood and finding homes for all the items that needed to move. A trip to the auto store for some battery cable in order to re-home the battery.
So I still need to mount the step sides (welding on the step side mounts), finish welding in the floor, finishing the tail gate, basically the entire interior (which I am looking for a bench seat for) and welding in the fender supports etc..... But it has been a blast so far. I have done this job completely alone just to see if I still have a large project in my blood. At 63, I am slowing down more, but it has been the perfect "pandemic" project!!!
So how long did it take you to get this far ?
Another question
Does it have a Mazda ownership or a 50 Dodge ownership ??
Looks like a fun project :2thumbs: :2thumbs:
Quote from: 70 sublime on July 23, 2020, 12:14:03 PM
So how long did it take you to get this far ?
Another question
Does it have a Mazda ownership of a 50 Dodge ownership ??
Looks like a fun project :2thumbs: :2thumbs:
I started this project June 20th. I am working outside, so the heat runs me in the house early each day. Plus I can't work on it on rainy days!! So I have about a month into the project. The truck is licensed as a Mazda right now, but there is a title for the Dodge also.
Very cool project, you've made some great progress in a short time!
Today I had the goals of tucking things in under the hood and fenders, and getting the hood mounted. Plus the few grounds that were removed while cutting metal out needed to be re-mounted. The overflow bottle is still looking for a new home. I think I may get a smaller/different shaped bottle for the over flow, then there is a nice space for it up front on the passenger side.
The hood isn't looking too bad. There is a lot of space under there!!!
Here is a shot of the dash. I need to find some kind of seal that will plug the gap from the windshield to the dash. i am thinking of a rubber seal that will slip on the metal lip.
I am also searching for a tail gate. I have a guy close by that says he has one. Crossing my fingers, but if that doesn't happen, I am in the works of making one out of the piece I took off the bed from the Dodge. Right here I just have it setting in place to see how it looks.
I seem to be missing something from the front of the hood. Guess I will look at some pictures to see what is supposed to be in these openings. Plus this awesome hood ornament!!!
Cool project. I don't know where you live, but it's HOT out there.
A Dodge truck on a Jap frame. :scratchchin: :brickwall: :scratchchin:
Looks like a lot of fun. That dash is a pretty decent fit ... except for maybe for window crank interference.
Quote from: RallyeMike on July 24, 2020, 12:21:07 AM
Looks like a lot of fun. That dash is a pretty decent fit ... except for maybe for window crank interference.
Right about the window crank. The option would be to go with electric windows, or the wife said "if we want the windows up we can just open the door and roll them up". So I am not worrying about that right now!!!
I got the battery moved to the back of the truck today and fired the truck up to check everything out since I hadn't started it since cutting metal and moving wires etc... under the hood. Then I took it out for a cruise around the block a couple times. Can't go too far because I have no lights hooked up yet. Next project is sealing the windshield to the dash and welding in the floor patching.
interesting idea ! clever stuff :2thumbs:
Quote from: ACUDANUT on July 23, 2020, 10:37:40 PM
Cool project. I don't know where you live, but it's HOT out there.
A Dodge truck on a Jap frame. :scratchchin: :brickwall: :scratchchin:
I am in illinois. It is really hot and very humid. So I am only getting about 3 hours a day before I have to quit. As far as the Mazda frame goes, The wheel base lined up the best. My engine has a Ford sticker on it. My Dodge buddy wasn't too pleased with me either though. :shruggy:
Today I decided to install the Mazda gas door and make a functioning tail gate. No word from the guy that said he has one, so I went with what I had. Welded the metal to a piece of pipe which allows it to move. then made tabs so it will lock into place.
Here ate the shots of the tail gate.
And a shot of the cab. There is a bit of work to do on the floor to patch everything in. Then search for a bench seat. Tomorrow I hope to mess with the lights. I have a video of driving the truck around the block. I will try to put in on youtube.
The lucky part of this build is the fuse box of the ranger and the Mazda. It is on the end of the dash on the drivers side. I was very worried about where I would be able to move it to in order to have access to the fuses, But where the cab set down there was plenty of room to leave it alone!!!
Here is the link to the video of the truck driving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNbZC2dAalY&feature=youtu.be :2thumbs:
Quote from: nvrbdn on July 25, 2020, 05:23:05 PM
Quote from: ACUDANUT on July 23, 2020, 10:37:40 PM
Cool project. I don't know where you live, but it's HOT out there.
A Dodge truck on a Jap frame. :scratchchin: :brickwall: :scratchchin:
I am in illinois. It is really hot and very humid. So I am only getting about 3 hours a day before I have to quit. As far as the Mazda frame goes, The wheel base lined up the best. My engine has a Ford sticker on it. My Dodge buddy wasn't too pleased with me either though. :shruggy:
Ford owned Mazda back then....
Quote from: nvrbdn on July 25, 2020, 06:05:31 PM
Here ate the shots of the tail gate.
DCMclassics.com has tailgates with and without the Dodge logo. I have bought other parts from them in the past .
Ask them about the upper grille part that your missing either chrome or painted depending on model. I think the bigger
above 1 ton truck ones are different but might be close.
At first glance, this looked like a bad idea.
I am impressed with how you made it work. Good for you. :2thumbs:
DCMclassics.com has tailgates with and without the Dodge logo. I have bought other parts from them in the past .
Ask them about the upper grille part that your missing either chrome or painted depending on model. I think the bigger
above 1 ton truck ones are different but might be close.
[/quote]
Thanks for the tip!!! I will check them out. :2thumbs:
Quote from: Kern Dog on July 27, 2020, 02:35:49 PM
At first glance, this looked like a bad idea.
I am impressed with how you made it work. Good for you. :2thumbs:
Thank you!! My first thing was to measure the wheel base and all the dimensions before jumping in. I kept coming up with thinking it should work, but was a bit afraid to start. I was afraid to mess up a nice truck that drove really well and wasn't a rust bucket. It took me 5 months to talk myself into just going for it. Glad I did. :cheers:
Today is a rainy day here, so no working on the truck. So I went to town and had the paint matched. Now I will be able to match the look of the truck on all the areas where I do metal repair. I am still tossing around what the tail lights will be. I want something that will look good with the old weathered truck. But then I thought that the area just below the tail gate is a great place to put the long lights. Keep in mind that the Mazda had the yellow turn signals with red running and brake lights. So the perfect combo would be a light that would accompany all of this. Still thinking it all out.
Yesterday and today were nice outside, so I welded on the floor yesterday, and today I wanted to attack the door rust and the cab corner.
And the doors. Here is the drivers side door.
And the pass side. Everything is spot welded in.
Keep up the good work. Your getting there.
Cool project! :cheers:
Thank you guys!! This has been something new to me to try, so I am making it up as I go. :smilielol:
So today I decided to put the door glass in, then move to the lights. We are actually having a car show this Sunday in Roxana, and I am pre-registered with the Charger, so the truck doesn't need to be done too fast because it won't get to go anyway, but the wife thought I should try to take the truck instead. If I only get one car show this year, It has to be the Charger. (Duster would be second) Well, I just got the roll up glass done in time, cuz here came the rain again. Every day lately. So I guess I am done for the day, and the vent windows will have to wait until tomorrow.
Love this project! :cheers:
Sorry if I missed it but how did you attach the 50 Cab on the new chassis? Same with the bed? Until I looked again and watched the video I thought it was all at mock up stage still!!!
Keep up the great work :popcrn:
Thanks!! First of all, the bed from the Mazda was used. The sides were cut off. The bolted back down on the frame. The Mazda bed mounts with 6 bolts. Then the Dodge bed sides were welded to the Mazda bed. That was the easiest way to put the bed on. Since I kept the floor of the Mazda, it had the cab mounts in it. So the cab was welded to the floor metal. :2thumbs:
This picture shows that the Mazda bed was mounted back after the sides were cut off. Then the bed sides were welded to the old Mazda bed. The second pic is of the bed with the sides removed.
Thank you for that :cheers: :popcrn:
Your welcome. This pic shows after the cab was welded to the floor, Metal was cut and welded in to fill any gaps and strengthen the cab along both sides. :2thumbs: The lower seam was caulked and Dyna mat has been ordered to cover the entire floor.
Sunday was nice finally. No rain!! But there was a car show, and I wasn't gona miss it!!! So off I went to the show. Got a 3rd place trophy in Mopar up to 1978 modified. They had 215 registered cars, and several drove in late.
Monday came in bringing back the rain. :rotz: Tuesday was a doctors visit, then get some little things done on the truck. And today I was able to play outside all day!!! The weather was beautiful yesterday and today. 50's at night and high 70's all day. So the welding the floor was completed today, and the heat shield was put down. Then I installed the felts in the doors. What a productive day!!! Hope to get to the junk yard soon to find a bench seat. :2thumbs:
Another beautiful day outside today!!! So it was time to get the door gaps right, and get the fenders fitting better. Cut, grind, weld and presto, things are lining up much better. The doors work awesome!!
Hey, I didn't know your car was a '70. The '68 stripes had me fooled!
Yep, she is a 70. When I had it painted, I wanted a stripe. Well it isn't an RT. It's a 500. and I liked the 68 stripe better, so I had the guy add it. Just a personal preference. :yesnod:
Very nice Charger :cheers: :cheers:
Today was a good day to do some body work. Metal was welded in ground and body putty added. lots of sanding. :yesnod:
more smoothing. :2thumbs:
And time for some primer. Hot sunny day today, so only a few hours working today for this guy!!!
We had wet weather again today. But it did clear up and I made it out there for a few. Helped the neighbor work on his golf cart for a bit, then worked on making the front of the hood area look a bit better. that little chrome piece costs a fortune, and I would rather spend that cash on new window rubber seals. I think I will be putting a Dodge emblem jn the center area where the holes are.
Quote from: nvrbdn on August 06, 2020, 10:50:19 PM
Yep, she is a 70. When I had it painted, I wanted a stripe. Well it isn't an RT. It's a 500. and I liked the 68 stripe better, so I had the guy add it. Just a personal preference. :yesnod:
Yep, that is a great looking car in a color rarely seen.
Thanks Kern Dog!! :cheers: I am enjoying your build of the Charger!!!
Today was running boards. They had to be cut down to size. Sure does change the look with them on there!!!
Been a little slow around here with everything going on, but I did get out there and mount some tail lights I found stuffed in an old box in the garage. I think they go well with the truck!!
So today was a day to hook up the lights, level out the bed a little and cut off the back of the fenders. I don't have the step sides that would be after the rear fenders, and really don't think I would want them on.
So after leveling the bed and adding 2" spacers on the rear wheels, plus making a few wheel well supports, she is standing pretty good!!! :yesnod:
Looks great. Does the A/C still work ?
Quote from: ACUDANUT on August 19, 2020, 12:05:08 AM
Looks great. Does the A/C still work ?
Yes it does!!! We will have all the luxury of the newer truck with the old look. :2thumbs: Just sucks that all the car shows around here are being canceled. There is a Rat Rod Run out on the river in Grafton in September that is still on right now that I would like to attend so I can get some feedback!!!!
Been slowing down a bit lately going fishing and playing with the golf cart. Plus working on our Koi pond. But I did attack the front lights. I disassembled everything and cut the backs out of the marker lights. Then I mounted the marker/turn signal lights from the Mazda in the casing and put it back together. Plus wired up the headlights. Now we have all the lights working!!!!
We got more work done!! But first, my son and future daughter in law had a wedding shower. It was at an axe throwing place. This is the cake they wanted for the ceremony. It says "Til Death Do Us Part" between the heads.
Got the wiring all tucked in on the back of the truck. Found me a seat for sale locally out of a Dodge Ram Van. And it was the right color too!!! Got the seat mounted in the truck, and took it for a nice ride!!! Still have more to do, but it sure was fun to get the seat in and cruise this thing around!!! :cheers:
Quote from: nvrbdn on September 02, 2020, 09:41:35 PM
We got more work done!! But first, my son and future daughter in law had a wedding shower. It was at an axe throwing place. This is the cake they wanted for the ceremony. It says "Til Death Do Us Part" between the heads.
Man, that's dark. Love the the truck idea though.
It is definitely not the cake I would have chosen!!! But, it isn't my wedding. (and I wasn't paying for the cake)
Here is a link to the new test drive in the truck. Then after this I took it out for a 10 mile jaunt. fifth gear running 55 MPH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhtCdyVZZUk
Got back on the truck. Cleaning up the body work and blending the paint. :2thumbs:
wow! nice job blending in the paint, love the look of this truck. Such a great project and looks like a ton of fun. Great job on this! :cheers: :cheers:
thank you!! It has been fun building this truck. To see it coming so close to completion is pretty exciting!! Can't wait to take it to a show!! :2thumbs:
Great work on the truck. My son and future ex daughter in law would have liked the cake.
Quote from: 67440chrg on September 10, 2020, 03:22:18 PM
Great work on the truck. My son and future ex daughter in law would have liked the cake.
Thanks. That cake was crazy. Everyone enjoyed it.
Well, it has been a bit for the truck, but there has been some progress. I got the wing windows in finally. Then drove it around and had the wife take a few pics.
Next was a car show!! Drove the freeway at 73 MPH. Had a good day. There was so much attention around the truck, I barely had time to sit down. A lot of people enjoying how it was put together.
Finally decided to add the bed frames on the front of the bed and cut down the head board. Looks much better. Won't add the other wheels and tires till spring since the shows are over and these tires would be better in the snow. And this is a 4 wheel truck, so it will be used. Plus it has a great heater!!!.
And the finished product. I will probably move more on the truck later, but since I have started the restoration of the 73 Challenger, it has taken a lot of my time away from Ole Blue. Plus I am already driving Ole Blue so it isn't demanding anything from me!!!
Out of curiosity, how did you address gaps and fitment between the new dash and truck cab? Did you just leave it or try and close it up?
Fun project!
Quote from: alfaitalia on July 26, 2020, 07:24:19 AM
Quote from: nvrbdn on July 25, 2020, 05:23:05 PM
Quote from: ACUDANUT on July 23, 2020, 10:37:40 PM
Cool project. I don't know where you live, but it's HOT out there.
A Dodge truck on a Jap frame. :scratchchin: :brickwall: :scratchchin:
I am in illinois. It is really hot and very humid. So I am only getting about 3 hours a day before I have to quit. As far as the Mazda frame goes, The wheel base lined up the best. My engine has a Ford sticker on it. My Dodge buddy wasn't too pleased with me either though. :shruggy:
Ford owned Mazda back then....
Nice project and clever skills to get it so far along.
The Mazda B-series pickup is a Ford Ranger with Mazda badges. Not the other way around. Some Ford small cars were Mazda based, but not the pickup. Ford never owned all of Mazda, but they owned enough to have a controlling interest for a while. They no longer do.
Quote from: RallyeMike on November 16, 2020, 11:59:52 AM
Out of curiosity, how did you address gaps and fitment between the new dash and truck cab? Did you just leave it or try and close it up?
Fun project!
This is the best pic showing the gap across the top of the dash. The sides fit very tight. Once the cab was settled down the best it was going to get, I welded the cab in place to the floor and the pillars, then I shot spray foam crack sealer in the gap. After that dried, I put a piece of trim on.
The main drive behind this project was to see if I could take what I had and pull this off. The main dream for this was to create an old truck without the massive custom manufacturing, wiring, plumbing etc... I wanted an old truck with a good suspension, air etc... and be able to cruise the freeway. But I didn't want to spend a ton of money to accomplish this task. The best way to do this was with an existing vehicle that would come close in measurements (which the Mazda did, and I already had). Then would it be possible to leave the dash so there would be no wiring or plumbing to do. No engine swap. No trying to fit a transmission and figuring out the shift linkage. No building a custom frame. The whole thing was just removing what I didn't want, and adding what I wanted. I have never tried to do a project like this. So this was really going to be a test for myself. And when you think about it, it really was pretty much like putting a 3D puzzle together. You have a good idea where the pieces should go. Then you try to put them there to see how they fit. I wasn't worried about staying true to a make or model. I just wanted a fun toy to drive and enjoy. I can drive this thing every day. The V6 engine has more than enough power. The 5 speed stick shift transmission makes it feel just right. And it has been a blast at the car show explaining 200 times just how I pulled it off. The truck has already been well worth the effort!!!
It takes a lot of measuring and planning to pull something like this off. You made it look as easy. :2thumbs:
Quote from: RallyeMike on November 17, 2020, 10:50:07 AM
It takes a lot of measuring and planning to pull something like this off. You made it look as easy. :2thumbs:
Very true!!! I continued to measure and measure over and over. Watched a thousand videos about body swaps. It started in January when I brought the body home. finally several months later I built up the courage to just dive in. I have to admit, it was pretty scary to cut up a nice truck. But I just felt i could pull it off. :2thumbs:
Great work. :cheers:
So when you called up the insurance company to put it on the road which ownership did you use ?
Did you confess what you had created ?
It is still listed as a Mazda truck with a body mod. I am friends with my insurance agent and he follows all of my projects. I guess the sad part of this is, I have full coverage with no deductible on it. 26.00 a month. Because liability would be 24.00 a month. But if I total the truck it is only worth 1500.00. so if it were totaled, I would barely recover all the costs of putting this truck together. I could check to see if the value would go up by titling it as the Dodge, but I can't really see it being an advantage unless I completely redo the body. So I will probably just leave it as is. :shruggy:
I'll be honest with you.....
I LOVE a cheap build ! When a car can be made functional with stuff you had at home, that is fantastic. I love going to swap meets and junkyards but it is so satisfying when you need something and then find it in a shed out back.
My own '70 Charger "Jigsaw" is my own low-dough-build. So many people think that to build a 68-70 Charger, you need to expect to spend $40,000 or more. I'm into mine under $9000 and it is almost ready to start and drive. I plan to drive it ratty for awhile. I know that I will probably turn a lot of purists off by doing it. So what? Good for you with this truck.
:iagree:
:hack: + :paintingpink: + :smash: = :icon_smile_big:
Exactly Kern Dog!! It is satisfying to make stuff work!! And a low budget build that cruises down the road getting the thumbs is icing on the cake. As my two show buddies said at the car show. Ole Blue is banned from shows because nobody wants to talk about their cars. :smilielol:
Quote from: 70 sublime on November 17, 2020, 01:15:02 PM
So when you called up the insurance company to put it on the road which ownership did you use ?
Did you confess what you had created ?
I took Ole Blue up to State Farm to get pictures taken etc... He was a bit worried that as the truck was actually a 50 Dodge on the outside, it would need to be registered that way. He said we would have to find out what to do and if he could do it. He just called me back and said the underwriter said the truck stays exactly as it is and the full coverage insurance stays the same. Then in 2 years we will move it to an antique vehicle status. So it will stay registered as a 98 Mazda truck!!! So we ran it to this patch of blooming clover and snapped a few pics!!!
:2thumbs: :2thumbs:
I seen that truck before somewhere :icon_smile_big: cool project Jim nice build the previous owner should be proud
Thank you!!! And I think the previous owner was really happy how it turned out!!! :2thumbs:
Well, it has been a bit since I have updated on the truck. Had to rebuild the Cougar engine, do some work on the Challenger and get a new trailer. But I did get back on it and finally put the new windshield in.
Next job was to get the new wheels and tires installed. I went with 14's on front to lower it down a little. 15's on back. Love the way it sits now. :2thumbs:
Looks great!! :2thumbs:
Looks great!
:2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs: looking good